There are only seven chapters in this little book by Andrew Norriss, one for each day of the week. On Monday, Archie witnesses—and becomes involved in—an extraordinary chain of events that is truly hard to believe. A piano rolling down a street trapping a girl inside a car is only the beginning, but none of it seems to phase Archie one bit. As he tells the girl, Cyd, once she is freed, this kind of thing happens to him every day.

Curious, Cyd asks to tag along the next day and see what other crazy things will happen. This is fortunate for Archie because it turns out that Cyd is very helpful in sorting out the mess these wild events engender. After six days of getting in and out of scrapes together, Archie and Cyd must wrestle with one final nutty Sunday.

I Don’t Believe It, Archie! is full of illustrator Hannah Shaw’s funny pictures. The whole story reads like an extra-long comic and is just as quick and fun. Young people who cannot quite read the book themselves will appreciate this one being read to them.

Jennifer Bruer Kitchel is the librarian for a pre-K through 8th grade Catholic school in Nashville.

Sage has led a rough life. He arrived at an orphanage five years ago with nothing, the son of a failed musician. His only chance for survival comes from his ability and willingness to steal everything he needs to live. All that changes, though, when Conner, a nobleman, arrives at the orphanage and purchases Sage. After attempting to escape, Sage is hauled on to a wagon with three other orphan boys to a camp outside of town. It is there that Sage and the other boys learn that one of them will be chosen to pose as a prince.

Jennifer A. Nielsen, author of Elliot and the Goblin War, weaves a dark and twisted plot in The False Prince, the first book in the Ascendance Trilogy. The King, Queen and Prince of Carthya are dead, though that fact has not yet become common knowledge. Conner is convinced that if he can “find” the missing prince of Carthya, all the noblemen will band together and war will be averted (of course, Conner plans to grab a little of this power for himself). Since the missing prince cannot be located, Conner hatches a plot to find boys who resemble the prince. He then plans to train them, select the best candidate and convince the noblemen that this boy is the missing prince—and now the King of Carthya. However, like most things in life, the plan doesn’t go exactly as intended.

The False Prince is a fast-paced, exciting adventure. There is action, as the boys train with Conner’s assistants, sneak out of their rooms and jockey for position in the most important contest of their lives. There is political intrigue, as Conner considers how to convince the noblemen that he has found the missing prince, and convince the boys to reward him for what he has done. There is even friendship, between Sage and the other boys, as well as with some unexpected characters. Nielsen has written a terrific story that carries readers along to the very (surprising) end and will leave them clamoring for the next book in her trilogy.

Late in 1866, a 13-year-old Irish lad named Malachy Gormley heads West to work for the Pacific Railroad and support his widowed mother and siblings back East. He’s big for his age and looking for adventure. Malachy doesn’t mind hard work, nor is he afraid to stand up for himself with the other men who, like him, must brave extreme temperatures, avalanches and dangerous working conditions to achieve this incredible enterprise—the completion of the transcontinental railroad.

Malachy befriends a feisty bulldog he names Brina and a dedicated horse, Blind Thomas. But he is less sure what to think about the Chinese workers who have also been recruited for this hazardous work, especially one young man, Chun Krowk Keung, whom he calls “Ducks.”

Diane Lee Wilson’s meticulous research and elegant prose make the story of Malachy and the challenges he faces a compelling read. She doesn’t shy away from difficult subjects, including the insults that the Chinese men endure, the tensions between the workers and Malachy’s struggles to find his moral compass.

An avid horse lover, Wilson has written about horses in such previous novels as Black Storm Comin’ and Firehorse. Here, she bases the endearing character of Blind Thomas on a horse who “may or may not have existed” named Blind Tom, who was called a hero at the Golden Spike ceremony in Promontory, Utah, that joined the tracks on May 10, 1869. In Tracks, Wilson has created a stirring coming-of-age story for young readers and a thoughtful account of a fascinating time in history.

Get ready, puzzle lovers! There’s a new book on the scene that will satisfy the sleuth in all of us. Author Lauren Child (Clarice Bean, Charlie & Lola) introduces Ruby Redfort, a young code-cracking genius who gets caught up in a great mystery. Like Petra and Calder in Blue Balliett’s Chasing Vermeer and Reynie in Trenton Lee Stewart’s The Mysterious Benedict Society, Ruby is a precocious kid who thrives on difficult problems and tricky situations.

The story moves along fluidly, although some elements are a bit cartoonish: Ruby’s unbelievably stupid parents; the spy agency that only seems able to crack codes with Ruby’s help; and the fact that billions of dollars in gold are coming to the small town of Twinford, USA. Despite these elements—or perhaps because of them—the story is a fun romp through Ruby’s interesting life.

Child does an excellent job of subtly alerting us that the story takes place in the 1970s and that Ruby is an American. (Child is British.) The author also includes some interesting puzzles and a difficult code to decipher. (This reviewer, who prides herself on her own decoding abilities, had to resort to the Internet for help.) And there’s plenty of page-turning action as Ruby gets closer to solving the mystery.

Though Ruby Redfort Look Into My Eyes will appeal to all ages, middle-grade girls will especially identify with Ruby’s disconnect from her parents, her efforts to be independent and her struggle to be heard by the adults in her life. This lighthearted caper also carries a valuable lesson as Ruby learns that trusting her instincts can help her crack the toughest cases.

All Hal ever wanted was a dog. His wealthy parents give him every toy and gizmo, all hand-wrapped and selected by the professionals at the upscale toy store, but a dog is out of the question. It might shed, make a mess or otherwise disturb the sparkling, germ-free mansion the staff has carefully created.

Crestfallen when his 10th birthday yields only a horrifying man dressed as a dog, Hal’s sadness nudges his father to finally get a dog. The catch is, this dog will come from Easy Pets, a dog rental agency. Figuring that a dog will be like every other “toy” in Hal’s life (discarded after a few days), Hal’s father misjudges the bond between boy and dog—and that’s when this story really gets going. Hal’s attachment to Fleck, as the little mongrel is called, is so instant and so deep that Hal’s anger and depression over his parents’ duplicity sends everyone into a tailspin when his mother returns Fleck without a word of warning.

Hal and Fleck are destined to be reunited, however, and in her final book, dog-lover Eva Ibbotson, who died in 2010, has created a reunion worthy of cinema. Hal is convinced that his grandparents in Northumberland will be better parents for him and his dog. New friend and accomplice Pippa, whose family thinks she is at sleepaway camp, joins him on an adventure worthy of The Incredible Journey.

Though Ibbotson didn’t live long enough to see this charmer in print, her love of animals comes through on every page. Parents, be careful: One Dog and His Boy will certainly make young readers long for a Fleck of their own.

It was a typical first day at a new school for Ben Ripley. First, he was dragged out of his house by a James Bond lookalike, and no one was allowed to know where he was going. Then he was shot at as he ran for his life up to the front door. Next, he was met by the most beautiful girl in the world, who saved his life at least twice and sent him to make a call from the emergency radio beacon. Finally, he backed his way into what was certainly a trap, and most likely his sudden death, only to be confronted by the principal of the school, telling Ben he had just scored a D-minus on his first test at Spy School. Wait, that’s not what your first day of school was like?

In Spy School, the new novel by Stuart Gibbs, Ben finds out quickly that this school will be nothing like the boring classes he has taken for most of his life. For example, at the CIA’s top secret Academy of Espionage, classes like Geometry and Social Studies are replaced with Introduction to Self-Preservation and Chemistry 102: Poisons and Explosives. Also, in a regular school, you don’t often find out you were admitted as an unqualified, and extremely expendable, decoy in order to draw out a mole in the operation. Ben really likes the change in coursework; he doesn’t much care for the fact that he was brought there to die!

Spy School pulls together the best of middle grade writing—action, adventure, awkward romance, plot twists and turns, and of course, unrelenting humor. Gibbs does an excellent job of never quite letting you figure out what is going to happen next, and keeping you on your toes. Ben is a perfect bumbling hero—never quite knowing what to do, but somehow getting things done. Perfect for fans of mysteries, humor or Harry Potter (it does take place in a special school for gifted students, after all), Spy School will keep young readers engrossed from cover to cover.

For anyone who has read Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden, Ellen Potter’s latest book will feel very familiar. In The Humming Room, Potter has taken the metaphor of wild, neglected garden as wild, neglected child and updated it for a new audience.

Like Mary in The Secret Garden, Roo finds herself living with people she does not know, in a house that has many secrets. Her estranged uncle has no interest in her and his secretary is cool and efficient, but not loving and kind. Roo is used to being on her own and taking care of herself, so the isolation is welcome and comforting. What is not comforting, however, is the strange humming she can hear through the walls. Where is it coming from? Why hasn’t she been allowed to meet whoever is making those sounds?

Roo is not a happy child, nor necessarily a lovable character, but we understand how she thinks and what she needs to feel at peace. When she encounters who it is that is making the humming sound, Roo must learn how to include others in her world, opening her heart in the process.

Roo’s connection with the natural world is lovingly portrayed throughout the story, making her discovery and need to revive a lost garden quite understandable. All the wildness in this book—in Roo, in the garden, in the humming room—is not tamed but given room to grow and thrive. A cared-for garden is very much like a cared-for child: Given love and attention, both bloom into wondrous things.

This book is not a substitute for Burnett’s, but could be considered a welcome addition, one perhaps better suited for younger readers not yet ready for the fuller complexities of The Secret Garden.